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Red Skull
Red Skull: The world is changing, Captain Rogers. Can't you see? HYDRA will usher in a new age of wisdom. There are no flags in my vision, just one enveloping mass uniting all nations on this planet. We do not need to fear the darkness. Instead, we must '''embrace' it!'' Padme: Stop this, Schmidt! If you continue down this horrid path, the darkness will swallow your heart just like it did to the rest of your allies! Red Skull: Oh but on the contrary, fraulein, I am not as weak-hearted as you believe me to be. I know fully well about the light and the darkness which the Master of Worlds seeks. The heart of all worlds. Your precious Keyblade. The Tesseract has shown me all this. With it, the legions of Hell itself are mine to command. You too will '''fall'.'' - Red Skull's last conversation with Padme Amidala and Captain America before their battle. Johann Schmidt, also known as the Red Skull, is the founder and commanding officer of the most infamous incarnation of HYDRA, then a special weapons division of the Nazi Armed Forces. A brilliant scientist in his own right, his ambition to become the superior man and conquer the world led him to test the Super Soldier Serum on himself and turn his back to the leaders of the Third Reich. As the Red Skull, Schmidt is a middle-ground player in the Unlimited saga, serving as a member of the Separatist Alliance in "Birth of A New Era". With the help of Julius Mouse and the lord of the Grecian Underworld Hades, Schmidt located the Tesseract and planned to use it to open a portal to the Realm of Darkness for Darth Sidious to use in the Master Plan. He is defeated by Captain America with the help of Gwydion, Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan over the course of their individual visits to that world. Thought long dead in the modern era, Johann is revealed to have survived thanks to the time-traveling skills of the Archmage Destane interfering with the Tesseract's space portal-generating abilities, and persuaded into rejoining the totalitarian Galactic Empire as the alliance's Clone Trooper Commander. His later research on the capabilities of the other Infinity Stones and how best for HYDRA to continue operating in the modern era may lead to rather dire consequences for the universe... Story Before Birth of A New Era Johann Schmidt has known nothing but hatred since the day he was born. His mother died in childbirth and his violent, alcoholic father, blaming Johann, tried to drown him in a lake near their home. The doctor who had delivered Johann managed to save him, but Johann's father committed suicide in grief moments later. Sent to an orphanage, Johann grew up tormented by the other children, running away to live on the streets. He found no relief, however, as even other vagrants despised him, stealing food from him at every opportunity. In his adolescence, Johann found a part-time job working for a local Jewish shopkeeper. Though the shopkeeper regarded Johann with suspicion and contempt for his past and his criminal tendencies, the man's daughter Esther was more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Johann, treated kindly for the first time in his life he could remember, began to develop feelings for Esther. Working up the courage to ask her to marry him, Johann was heartbroken by her reply. Put off by Johann's forwardness, Esther told him that she saw him as more than a friend than a lover. Feeling rejected by the one person he thought he could relate to, Johann responded violently, beating Esther to death with a shovel. From that moment on, Johann harbored particular hatred for Jews. When the first World War broke out, Johann enlisted under false pretenses, seeing the army as a more promising future than life on the streets. His comrades in the regiment he was assigned to included Wolfgang von Strucker and an Austrian named Adolf Hitler. In the battle of the Somme, nearly all of the regiment was wiped out, with Johann, Strucker, and Hitler the only survivors. As they fell back to friendly lines, a Canadian soldier named James Howlett spotted them and was about to shoot them when he saw his half-brother Victor Creed endangered by a German machine gun nest. Howlett went to his brother's aid, never discovering the identities or future importance of the men he had let escape. After the war ended, Johann was among the earliest founders of the National Socialist German Worker's Party along with Strucker and Hitler, blaming the Jewish people for Germany's defeat and subsequent financial crisis. It was at one of the Party meetings that Johann and Strucker first met the aristocrat Baron Heinrich Zemo, who saw the pair as potential allies. He told them about the ancient Brotherhood of the Spear and the power it could give to them. Believing the Brotherhood could usher in a new golden age for Germany and destroy the Jews and other "undesirables," Johann and Strucker agreed to join Zemo in the organization that would come to be known as HYDRA. Zemo believed Hitler was too weak-willed to become a proper member of HYDRA, and instead used him as a puppet to advance HYDRA's goals without letting him know who was really pulling the strings. One of Johann's first tasks for HYDRA was to develop a new breed of soldier stronger, faster, and more resilient than any normal human. Working with the German scientist Abraham Erskine, Johann oversaw the creation of a "super-soldier serum" designed to create this new warrior. Eager for results, Johann tested the serum on himself, but it went terribly wrong. Although it granted him heightened strength, speed, durability, and intelligence, the imperfect serum also caused all his hair to fall out and shrank and discolored the skin on his face, causing it to resemble a red skull. Horrified, Erskine fled to the United States after discovering Johann's true allegiance. Though disappointed by this failure, Zemo saw that Johann had been enhanced by the serum despite his disfiguration and decided to keep him on as an agent. Johann Schimdt, now the Red Skull, soon became one of HYDRA and the Nazi Party's most feared leaders. Birth of A New Era (His role from Captain America First Avenger, mixed with elements of Hades' appearance in BBS) (Is approached by Hades to join the Separatist Alliance full time by offering him a peek into the grander cosmos beyond that of Midgard-616, and revealing that Schmidt holds the capability for wielding a great darkness to do his bidding, but warns that he must learn to control it, or be consumed by his lust for power, which foreshadows Schmidt's eventual downfall by misusing the power of the Tesseract; experiments using the darkness to give his so-called master Baron Zemo a power boost, only to turn him into his slave, while also creating Baron Blood and the Ice Colossus as minions) (Anakin/Terra's battle with Heinrich Zemo/mind-controlled Zack takes place during the rescue mission headed by Cap/the collapse of Schmidt's HYDRA base) The Journey (Foreshadows his later appearance in Infinity War by meeting up with the Horned King while they are both ghostly figures; finds out about the current HYDRA currently led by Alexander Pierce, Strucker, Whitehall, Gideon Malick, and the digital Arnim Zola; regrets what HYDRA has devolved into in his absence, but vows one day to return and take full control over the terrorist organization and return them to their roots, before being called back by the In-Betweener to return to the hellish existence that is his little icy cell on Vormir) Return of the Keyblade (A heavily edited version of his role from Infinity War, as a prisoner of the In-Betweener, shown as an example to Thanos as to what may happen if he misuses the power of the Infinity Stones for his dark ambitions; urges Thanos to sacrifice Gamora despite the Titan's misgivings in exchange for freeing him from Vormir; returns to Earth and is reunited with his daughter Sin and the HYDRA faction led by Janna Hale and Graviton II/Glenn Talbot; unites HYDRA under his ghostly tyrannical fist in service to the 13 Seekers of Darkness, the Galactic Empire, and Thanos' forces) Appearance and Personality Powers and Abilities Boss Strategy Boss Theme: The Encounter (1st Battle), The 13th Reflection (2nd Battle) The Red Skull is guarded by the Ice Colossus and the occassional small swarm of Scrapper & Buckle Bruiser Wraithlings. His main attack is a pistol shot, which does little damage but stuns Padme. He also has a machine gun, which can do a lot of damage. Gallery Johann Schmidtt Red Skull.jpg|Red Skull's original human self as Johann Schmidt Red Skull animated.jpg|The Red Skull's original appearance in the Hand-Drawn worlds Teschio-Rosso.jpg|The Red Skull's ghost after being freed from the Dark Ice Prison on Vormir by the Archmage, but before his bodily resurrection with Sin's sacrifice Dell Rusk.png|Red Skull's brief return as Johann Schmidt, or rather "Dale Russ" as he prefers, after being returned to life by the Archmage and Sin. Iron_Skull.png|The Iron Skull, Johann's armor granted to him by Arnim Zola upon his return to Earth based on design schematics of the Stark Industries Iron Armor, worn during the Infinity War campaign. cosmic skull marvel.png|The Cosmic Skull - Johann being empowered by energy from the Space Stone by Thanos to assist Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight in hunting down Vision in Edinburgh. Red Skull 56.jpg|Johann reduced to a pitiful wreck following his duel with Captain America and the Highwind Crew Category:Villains Category:The Galactic Empire Category:HYDRA Category:Soldiers Category:Crime Lords Category:Warriors Category:13 Seekers of Darkness Category:Scientists Category:Undead characters Category:Separatists Category:Nazis Category:Gentry Category:Government Officials Category:Thanos' Forces Category:The Confederacy Members